São Paulo GP 2024: Verstappen wins in the rain from grid position 17

Max Verstappen won the São Paulo GP 2024 in torrential rain. He started from 17th and gained 16 places. Behind him, Alpine secured a double podium, with Esteban Ocon in second and Pierre Gasly in third. The race was decided by the red flag on lap 32: Verstappen and both Alpines got fresh tyres for free, while the favourites had already made a pit stop. At the restart after the Safety Car on lap 43, Verstappen took the lead and never gave it back.

On our São Paulo GP race page you can relive in 3D all the chaos of Interlagos, lap by lap and with every position.

Nothing went to plan even before the start. Lance Stroll spun on the formation lap and got his Aston Martin stuck in the gravel, so the start was aborted. Polesitter Lando Norris mistakenly set off on another formation lap, and several cars followed him. After that, every driver had to return to their grid slot. Stroll took no further part in the race. Alexander Albon was missing too: his Williams had been too badly damaged in his qualifying crash and could not be repaired in the time available. That left only 17 cars on the starting grid.

When the race finally got under way on a wet track, George Russell made the better getaway and went ahead of Norris into Turn 1. The Mercedes driver led from lap 1 to lap 28. Further back, Verstappen was putting in an impressive drive on intermediates, passing Gasly and Fernando Alonso, among others, in the opening phase. By the time the race was stopped, he was already running second.

Ocon took the lead on lap 29 after Russell had pitted. After the red flag and the restart, Ocon was ahead of Verstappen and Gasly. When the Safety Car came in on lap 43 following Sainz's crash, Verstappen moved past Ocon. He then pulled away and also set the fastest lap of the race.

The race was held in the rain, with air temperatures of 20.4 to 23.4 degrees and track temperatures of 23.2 to 29.5 degrees. Almost everyone was on intermediates. In these conditions, timing the pit stop was the most important decision of the day.

The turning point came on lap 28. During a brief VSC period, Russell and Norris pitted for new intermediates. But the VSC ended on that same lap, and both lost a lot of time. Russell dropped from 1st to 5th, Norris from 2nd to 4th. Yuki Tsunoda switched to wet tyres on the same lap and slipped from 4th to 6th. Ocon, Verstappen and Gasly stayed out, putting them in positions 1 to 3.

Then Race Control came to their aid. The Safety Car was deployed on lap 30, and the red flag came out on lap 32. During the stoppage, all teams were allowed to change tyres without losing any time. As a result, Ocon, Verstappen and Gasly got through the race without a regular pit stop: their only tyre change came during the stoppage and cost them nothing. Three laps after the restart they were still running 1, 2 and 3. Russell and Norris, on the other hand, had made their VSC stop for nothing.

Charles Leclerc had been caught out even earlier. The Ferrari driver pitted on lap 24 without any neutralisation. His stop took 2.6 seconds, yet he still dropped from 5th to 10th. Leclerc later admitted that Ferrari had stopped too early. Fifth place ahead of both McLarens was damage limitation for him. For Liam Lawson, the VSC stop went wrong with a 5.4-second stationary time. He fell from 9th to 10th and was only eleventh after the stoppage.

• Franco Colapinto (Williams), after 30 laps: Under the Safety Car, the Argentine lost control in the fast uphill corner towards the pits and hit the barrier hard. The crash triggered the red flag. Colapinto climbed out unhurt. He spoke of a lot of standing water on the straight, on which he had been nothing more than a passenger. It was already his second crash of the weekend.
• Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), after 38 laps: Sainz had to take a pit lane start because of replaced power unit components. He spun at Turn 8 and ended up in the wall. It was also his second crash of the weekend, and by his own account he could not really explain either of them. The Safety Car was deployed on lap 39 as a result.
• Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), disqualified: Hülkenberg spun at Turn 1 and got stuck. Marshals helped him get back onto the track, and such outside assistance is not allowed. Race Control noted the incident on lap 31, and on lap 33 the stewards showed him the black flag.
• Stroll and Albon did not take the start (see above).

The stewards had plenty to do at Interlagos. Oscar Piastri collided with Lawson at Turn 1 on lap 27 and was given a 10-second time penalty for it on lap 29. The McLaren driver lost a place as a result and finished eighth, where he had started. He reportedly apologised to Lawson during the red-flag stoppage.

Oliver Bearman was also hit with 10 seconds after causing a collision with Colapinto at Turn 10 on lap 5. Colapinto himself was noted for leaving the track, but the stewards did not investigate further.

The aborted start had consequences after the race. Norris and Russell, who shared the front row, were each fined for leading the cars behind them onto the erroneous extra lap. Norris also received a reprimand. Tsunoda and Lawson escaped without a penalty, as they had only followed the cars in front. Sainz was given a reprimand after the race for dangerous driving. He had removed his steering wheel, then put it back on and tried to continue, even though the marshals were already preparing to recover his car.

Three further incidents had no consequences: Lawson versus Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1 (lap 33), Leclerc rejoining the track at Turn 4 (lap 46) and Lawson versus Sergio Pérez at Turn 2 (lap 56).

Winners:
- Verstappen gained 16 places, more than anyone else. With the win and the fastest lap, he scored 26 points.
- Alpine were the team of the day. Gasly climbed from 13th to 3rd, Ocon from 4th to 2nd. Together they scored 33 points.
- Hamilton went from 14th to 10th and took one point. Guanyu Zhou gained four places for Sauber and finished fifteenth.
- Bearman moved up from 15th to 12th despite his time penalty.

Losers:
- Norris dropped from pole to 6th, losing five places. After a weak restart on lap 43, he even slipped to 7th for a while.
- The RB team started with Tsunoda in 3rd and Lawson in 5th, but could only finish seventh and ninth.
- Alonso fell from 9th to 14th. Valtteri Bottas lost two places and finished thirteenth.
- Red Bull only had Verstappen to celebrate: Pérez finished eleventh and scored no points.

In the drivers' championship, this was a big step for Verstappen. He now has 393 points, with Norris 62 points behind on 331. Next come Leclerc on 307, Piastri on 262 and Sainz on 244 points. Russell (192) overtook his teammate Hamilton (190) and is now sixth.

McLaren lead the constructors' standings with 593 points, followed by Ferrari on 557 and Red Bull on 544, so the three teams are closely matched. Thanks to the double podium, Alpine jumped to sixth with 49 points, ahead of Haas (46) and RB (44). You can find the full 2024 standings on our site, along with everything about the Interlagos circuit.